


the way to a manes' heart

by reachedthebitterend



Series: sugar and spice and everything nice [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, M/M, Unrepentant Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 09:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23969242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachedthebitterend/pseuds/reachedthebitterend
Summary: michael is in love, he doesn't know the meaning of the word slow or moderation
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: sugar and spice and everything nice [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728079
Comments: 8
Kudos: 77





	the way to a manes' heart

**Author's Note:**

> posted on tumblr on 02/05/20

Posted on Michael’s Instagram at eight forty-six p.m. is a picture of a bouquet of edible flowers set in a beautiful handmade glass vase, full of borage blossoms and lavender and hibiscus and pansies and violets and a rose or two and some sage flowers with some basil and mint and coriander leaves. A small stark white card taped to the front that reads, _these are just to repay you for the most delicious dessert i have ever tasted_.

The caption reads:

 **guerinsflowers** step one: give the boy some flowers

Followed by the following comment thread almost immediately after posting:

 **rosa.zombie.** 👀

 **delucastyle** 👀👀

 **valentimcsexy** 👀👀👀

 **iamcamiam** 👀👀👀👀

 **rosa.zombie. @guerinsflowers** actually i just read the card and hmmmmmm

 **rosa.zombie. @guerinsflowers** a link to a google document titled _proof that michael guerin is an alien_

-

Rosa walks in through the back of the bakery, opening the door to the kitchen and is almost smacked in the face with a box.

“I need you to make a delivery,” Alex says, voice completely devoid of emotion, but just strained enough for Rosa to know that something is most definitely up.

She grabs the box or risks an Alex Tantrum™️ over her messing up one of his works of art, and then sweeps her gaze over the room, finding the bouquet almost immediately, more depleted than in the picture.

She looks to the counter and spots the carnage of flowers all over.

Rosa turns her gaze back to Alex, eyes wide with delight and Alex raises a hand. “Don’t. I’m just thanking him for the flowers.”

Rosa raises an eyebrow and walks further into the kitchen setting the box down and opening it amidst heavy protests from Alex, meaning a low whine at the back of his throat.

Rosa opens the box and just barely stops herself from snorting.

Whatever the dessert is is encased in a tempered chocolate coffin, with realistic looking vines and flowers all over it made out of what Rosa assumed is different colored fruit jelly and complete with a tiny fondant gravestone with Michael’s name on it.

“What is it?” She asks, and looks up at him curiously.

Alex gives her a look, “It’s a coffin.”

Rosa gives him a matching look.

He sighs, long suffering, “It’s an entremet.”

Rosa raises an eyebrow.

“You wouldn’t want to eat it,” he says, and Rosa rolls her eyes.

She looks back down to the dessert and tilts her head to the side. “How long did it take you to make this?”

Alex doesn’t answer which is telling.

“Don’t you think sending the boy you want to date a coffin after he gave you a bouquet of flowers is sending him the wrong message?”

She can feel Alex’s incredulous stare at the side of her head, “I’m not trying to send any message beside ‘thank you’ and I’m pretty sure that he’ll understand.”

Rosa turns to him then, “Oh?”

Alex’s cheeks flush pink, and he sputters. “It’s _not_ like _that_.”

“Then what is it like?”

Alex just exhales roughly. “He came over last night to give me the bouquet and then challenged me to create a tasty tasting dessert out of it.”

Rosa just huffs out a laugh amazed and looks back to the dessert. “He really does speak Alex,” she says to herself.

Alex pretends not to hear her as he moves towards the other side of the kitchen. He stifles a yawn with the back of his hand as he starts to clean and Rosa just sighs.

“Okay,” she says, and he turns to look at her, brow furrowing. “I’ll take this and then we’re calling in a favor from Maria and she’s going to come help me while you sleep.”

Alex just gives her a look, “I’m fine. All I need is a coffee-”

“Yeah, no,” she says and closes the box up again. “Just get the breads started and donuts proved. I can handle the shop for a day, and you don’t have any orders that can’t wait for another day.”

Alex just sighs and nods his head once before he turns back towards the sink.

Rosa shakes her head and walks back out to her car.

-

Direct Messages between Michael and Alex:

 **guerinsflowers** let me see if i got this right: a basil and mint infused vanilla cake, a cucumber and lemon sorbet with borage blossoms, all encased in a white chocolate rosewater and orange blossom flavored mousse, with lavender, violet and lemon flavored jelly

 **manelydead** You only missed one thing. I’m reluctantly impressed.

 **guerinsflowers** 😁

 **manelydead** 🙄

 **guerinsflowers** do i get a prize if i do guess it all right?

 **manelydead** You can bring me a cup of coffee tomorrow morning and I’ll make you a super secret breakfast pastry.

-

“The chocolate,” Michael says, voice making Alex jump as he tries to open the door to the bakery.

He turns towards him, and wonders what the hell he’s doing there at barely five in the morning.

“What about the chocolate?” Alex asks feeling confused and like he hasn’t drunk nearly enough coffee, because he hasn’t drunk nearly enough coffee.

“It was infused with the sage,” he says triumphantly, and Alex finally remembers what he’s talking about.

“Right,” he says and feels something bubbling in the pit of his. Maybe he should eat something before drinking more coffee.

His eyes dart to Michael’s hands and he finally notices the two steaming coffees in his hands.

“I guess I owe you a pastry,” he says, and Michael smiles, a bright and happy thing, that makes Alex feel really strange, almost like he’s lightheaded.

He really needs to eat something before he passes out.

He turns away from Michael and finally gets the door open.

Michael follows after him wordlessly, and Alex leads him through the dark and quiet shop all the way through the double doors and into the kitchen. He flips the light switch on, and pulls off his messenger bag and jacket, hanging them by the backdoor and grabbing his apron.

He turns around and sees that Michael has made himself comfortable in one of the stools surrounding the counter in the middle of the kitchen, right where Alex has the bouquet that he gave him.

Alex puts his apron and stands on the other side of the counter across from him.

Michael smiles at Alex and pushes one of the coffees over to him. 

“The cake was delicious by the way,” he says, when Alex just blinks at him, trying to figure out what exactly it is that Michael wants from him, because so far, he’s been drawing a great big blank.

“I knew you’d be able to come up with something tasty,” he continues.

Alex nods his head slightly, “And what did it taste like?”

Michael closes his eyes like he’s remembering the taste of something delicious and sighs. “It tasted like summer.”

Which was exactly what Alex had hoped it would taste like.

Alex feels something jump in the pit of his stomach and turns towards the fridge. He did promise Michael a super secret pastry and he really needs to eat something to get rid of this weird feeling.

He’d come early to have more time to bake because he’d given Rosa the day off since Wednesdays were usually slow days.

Which he was glad he’d decided to do that, because there was no way that he would be able to explain away Michael’s appearance, even if he told her the truth, because she would just make assumptions about feelings that he simply did not have.

After the divorce cakes, the donuts were what people usually came to get. Alex would have to limit himself on the decorations today, but he thinks that he could get everything done, and make some savory breakfast pastries as a speciality for the day.

Decision made, Alex pulls out the ingredients he needs making sure that there is still enough from the pastry dough that he had made yesterday.

Alex starts to cook and the rest of the world falls away. He just barely remembers that Michael is in the room, only keeping him in the peripheral of his attention so that he doesn’t do something really embarrassing like start singing and dancing.

Alex cuts shallots and dices some garlic and sets them to simmer with just a little bit of olive oil while he quickly slices several slices of bacon until they’re very thin and then tosses them into the pan, grabbing the handle and moving it around until it’s more or less mixed together. He lowers the heat a little bit and then starts to slice the portabella mushrooms.

Once the mushrooms are in the pan and Alex has mixed everything together with a wooden spoon, he grates the gruyere cheese quickly into a small glass bowl.

Once he’s sure he has enough, he sets it aside and takes the pastry dough out of the fridge.

Alex sprinkles some flour on top of the counter and he looks up, and sort of stops as he catches a glimpse of Michael’s face, stuttering his attention to a standstill.

He’s leaning his head on one hand, elbow hooked on the counter as he stares with wide bright eyes, a look on his face that Alex doesn’t recognize, but makes his heart beat faster.

Alex just shakes his head and refocuses on what he’s doing.

He rolls out the pastry, not too much since he doesn’t want to push down the layers too much, but thin enough that he’d be able to shape it.

He cooks the mushrooms down until they’re not releasing anymore moisture and then sets it aside to cool while he starts to cut out the small square shapes out of the big rectangle of pastry dough.

Alex starts to hum to himself without really realizing it, and is singing beneath his breath by the time he’s filling up the pastries, spooning some of the mushroom mixture and then lifting the corners up to create a little basket.

By the time he’s done and he’s putting the pastries to prove, he’s dancing a little.

Alex loses himself in making the dough for the doughnuts, and it’s only when he’s putting the dough to prove in three separate bowls that he hears a rhythmic tapping going along to his singing that he remembers that he’s not alone. 

Alex stops signing abruptly, but shuts the proving drawer, turning back to the pastries to take them out of the plastic bag he’d left the trays in.

Alex puts one in to bake since they’re only just proved and need at least half an hour more, but he’s hungry and he’s sure that Michael is too.

He sets the timer on and turns to Michael again.

Michael is still staring at him.

“What?” Alex asks when he doesn’t stop or say anything.

“You’re just,” He starts and then stops laughing a little. “You get so lost in your own world while you’re cooking. I can see you really love doing this.”

Alex makes a face at that. “Isn’t the point of slaving your life away for money to find something that you love to do?”

Michael snorts and shakes his head a little before he slides off his seat and makes his way around the counter to where Alex is.

“You’re funny,” he says as he inches closer.

“Most people find me disturbing,” Alex says, his tone obviously calling Michael weird for not finding him disturbing.

“Most people aren’t me,” he says and stops just right before he bumps into Alex. “And I think you’re-”

“Weird?” Alex questions interrupting him.

Michael just shakes his head, “Fascinating.”

Alex stops breathing, and blinks at Michael stupidly, trying to come up with a rational explanation for that.

“What do you want from me?” Alex asks before he can stop himself.

Michael licks his lips and moves in a little bit closer, the heat and smell of him sinking into Alex and making him shudder slightly, eyes fluttering.

“I want to know everything about you, and I want to eat every single thing that you cook or bake, but what I really want-”

He leans in closer, reaching up with one hand and brushing his fingers across Alex’s cheek.

“You have flour on your cheek,” he whispers from way too close. “It was distracting.”

Alex sways a little bit closer, eyes darting to Michael’s mouth and back up to his eyes, dark and heavy and on Alex like he’s hungry, but not for the pastries.

Alex feels tingly all over and a little discombobulated, like he can’t think straight.

Michael exhales softly, licking his lips, and moves backwards and Alex thinks, _what, no_ , and follows after him, lifting one hand to Michael’s face, fingers brushing across the bristly hair of his stubble and into his hair, pressing his palm down on the side of Michael’s face before he’s following the instinct urging him deep in his belly, and kisses him.

The kiss is too hard and kind of off center, but Michael makes a low noise at the back of his throat and then tilts his head and kisses Alex back, nipping lightly against his bottom lip and sending sparklers going off behind his eyelids.

Alex moves into Michael, lifting his other hand to drag it into Michael’s hair and tugs on the curls a little too hard, but Michael just makes a low noise, almost like a growl, and then he’s pushing into the kiss, pushing Alex back until he’s pressed against the fridge, magnets rattling down to the floor.

He kisses Alex harder, biting down on his lip and licking into his mouth and Alex loses track of time and space and gravity in a way that never happens unless he’s baking.

The timer startles them apart and Michael pulls away, chest heaving, cheeks flushed, hair a mess, mouth red and wet, and Alex feels something shift in his very core.

 _Oh_ , he thinks as he tries to catch his breath with equal amounts of anticipation and dread. 

_Oh, no._

-

Posted on Michael’s Instagram at eight forty-seven a.m. is a selfie, really zoomed into his face, showing off a huge smile and bright eyes and there is flour in his stubble and on his ear and his hair.

The caption reads:

 **guerinsflowers** sometimes dreams do come true

Followed almost immediately by the following comment thread:

 **rosa.zombie.** SHUT. UP

 **iamcamiam @delucastyle** Call me right now!

 **lizziethestrange** NO WAY!!

 **delucastyle** holy shit

 **valentimcsexy** did you even have to get to step two???

 **guerinsflowers @valentimcsexy** 😉

 **intergalacticbitch** What did I fucking say?

 **manelydead** 🖤

 **guerinsflowers @manelydead** 😍❤❤❤

 **manelydead @guerinsflowers** 🙄 you’re blocked


End file.
